Collection: Directories and Documents > Tanis Thorne Native Californian & Nisenan Collection

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Title: Aboriginal Trade Between the Southwest and California Collection Type: Directories and Documents Collection Name: Tanis Thorne Native Californian & Nisenan Collection Author: Robert F. Heizer Source(s): The Masterkey p185 # of Pages: 3 Download PDF: User Login Required Download OCR Text: User Login Required

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Original Held At: Searls Historical Library Location: 161 Nevada City Hwy, Nevada City, CA 95959

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188 . THE eALASTERKEY pressed by these resemblances, and points to the certainty that these objects arrived in California through trade, and concludes that “There can be no suspicion of a party of raiding warriors having been slain and buried far from home.”?$. Kroeber’s opinion bears weight because of supporting evidence, . and although there is no necessity to identify these Buena Vista Lake burials as those of outsiders who died far from home, the presence of the Colorado River type objects (cotton cloth, twined bags, potato-masher club, etc.) still requires interpretation. In 1776 Garcés attested the presence of Mohave © (called by him Jamajabs) among the San Joaquin Valley — Yokuts where they had come to trade.’® Here then is evidence’ of trade contacts between the Mohave and Yokuts which explains the probable source of the extraneous materials found. in the San Joaquin Valley sites. The burials with which these. objects were found may be either those of Mohave traders who . settled among the Yokuts and adopted certain Yokuts material _ culture forms, or they may represent Yokuts who obtained. numerous Mohave-type objects and customs (e.g. hairdress). A careful examination of the skeletal material might settle this problem. At about the time of Garcés’ visit (1776) to the Yokuts — there began what I have called the “protohistoric” period in— Central California archeology.2° There is evidence of widespread cultural exchange at this period, and the continuance of Southwestern and San Joaquin Valley trade is attested by. the presence as far north as Carquinez Straits of grooved stone axes and turquoise beads. These were probably passed along by the Yokuts who had procured them from Colorado River visitors. 38 Kroeber, A. L., op cit., p. 934. 39 Coues, E., op. cit., p. 302. See also pp. 274-75 where Garcés infers that the southern Yokuts were acquainted with the Colorado river people. In 1800 Pacheco wrote Sal that a gentile had come in, telling of a visit to his rancheria by a party of 26 Yuma, saying that the latter threatened to attack the missions. Sal sent Moraga to investigate. Moraga reported — that 11 (not 26) Yuma had visited the rancheria of Chugualeama, 14 leagues from San Miguel, and that there was no evidence of their suppose hostile intentions. Moraga states that they came peacefully and only % trade “as they did every year.” (Pacheco et al., “Letters Concerning Visit of Yumas to Tulare Indians,” California Archives, State Papers, Sacramento, v. 4, pp. 62-67, 1800; MS. Bancroft Library.) See also Zalvidea’s statement of 1806 in Wedel, W. R., Archeological Investigations at Buena Vista Lake, Kern County, California, Bur. Amer. Ethnol. Bull. (130 1941, p. 14. 2 Heizer, R. F., The Direct-Historical Approach in Central California Archaeology, to appear, 1941, in American Antiquity. ~ ‘ indepth. Into this the cafton of Johnson Creek cuts its almost THE 21 ASTERKEY 189 ARCHEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE IN WESTERN UTAH AND NEVADA, 1939 By Douctas OsBorNE [TDe%s6 the latter part of September and the first part of October, 1939, I accompanied Dr. Anne M. Cooke and ~ Alden Hayes on an ethnologic survey of the Basin Indians. Dr. Cooke, assisted by Mr. Hayes, endeavored to trace the Basin distribution of some of the stories or myths which are known of that area. While these studies were in progress, I surveyed the area immediate to our camps for archeologic remains. So far as the archeology goes, our trip began at Ibapah in western Utah. This small Gosiute and White town lies within a few miles of the Nevada-Utah line. There are a number of caves in the Antelope Mountains just west of Ibapah which we had no time to visit. From Ibapah we followed Nevada State Highway 2 to a small road that cuts southward from the highway along the western rim of Steptoe Valley to U. S. Highway 6. Ely, Nevada, was our next stop. Some archeo~ logical remains were located here and an excellent local collection was studied. From Ely, we proceeded northward to the Duck Valley reservation at Owyhee, where two interesting sites were examined. From Duck Valley we backtracked southward, then drove southwestward on U. S. Highway 40 to Battle Mountain, where a few projectile points, etc., were found. Battle Mountain was our last stop until we arrived at Beatty in southern Nevada. Here a short stay gave me time to note the shapes of a few points picked up locally. A ‘side trip through Death Valley and a stop at Death Valley Junction offered the opportunity to note the types of some points held for sale to tourists at the local store of the Pacific Borax Company. This brought an end to my rather superficial urvey. I shall discuss the archeological materials and sites in the order of the itinerary. There is no archeologic, physiographic, or other reason for considering them in any other rder. At Ibapah we camped at Fifteen Mile near the crossing of he south-bound road and a small creek. This creek discharges about a quarter of a mile below, into Johnson Wash. -Geologically the area is typical of the basin and range. Recent gravel wash mantles the valleys for probably hundreds of feet